Combination tag and textile printing machine



Nov. 10, 1953 P. N. BRAUN COMBINATION TAG AND TEXTILE PRINTING MACHINE Filed March 11, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l 5%|; EIIEEHEEHEEHEE W 1 R. y 1 5 mM /m 1 1. Z 12 NOV. 10, 1953 BRAUN 2,658,448

COMBINATION TAG AND TEXTILE PRINTING MACHINE Filed March 11, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 llllllllllllllllllllllll Patented Nov. 10, 1953 GOMBINATION TAG AND TEXTILE PRINTING MACHINE Philip N. Braun, Syracuse, N. Y., assignor to Textile Marking Machine Co. Inc., Syracuse, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 11, 1950, Serial No. 149,087

4 Claims.

This invention relates to printing machines for marking tags with identifying characters to be applied to articles to be laundered or dry cleaned andalso, when desired, for marking the characters directly on the articles themselves, and also to the tickets or invoices for the articles; and has for its object a printing machine in which the tags are in a supply roll or tape which is fed during the printing operation across a platen in position to be brought to printing position by movement of the platen and after printing, fed off the platen, and the printed tags severed from the tape, and by which machine the identifying number or character can, when desired, be applied directly to the article, as to the lining of a sleeve, or the pocket sacks of a garment, or to insignificant places on an article, as to the corners, or margins, of such articles as towels etc., by applying a second platen over the former platen and the tag thereon and disabling the tape feeding and tag severing mechanisms.

The invention consists in the novel features and in the combinations and constructions hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In describing this invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which like characters designatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the platen carrier showing a supplemental or second platen located in full operative position to mask the tape printing platen, the type wheels of the machine being also shown, and the position of the second platen when out of operative position being shown in broken lines, the platen carrying head being in starting position with the platen fully spaced fromthe printing line.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of parts seen in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary elevation of parts seen in Figure 2 showing the second platen as in operative-position, and the platen carrier, moved into printing position.

Figure 4 is a section on line 44, Figure 3, showing a front elevation of the platen carrier with the secondiplaten in operative position.

Figures 5, 6 and 7 are fragmentary sectional views taken on line --5, Figure 4, showing the shifting of the knife out of position to be actuated by the part of the knife mechanism on the frame when thesecond platen is moved into position to mask the tape printing platen, Figure 5 showing the position when the platen carrier is at. the: beginning of its operating movement, and Figures 6 and '7 showing the position of the knife when the platen carrier is assumed at the end of the operating movement thereof and intermediate of the return movement thereof, respectively.

This machine is of the general type shown. in the application of Philip N. Braun, Ser. No. 27,685, filed May 18, 1948, and comprises a set of type wheels I operable individually and usually manually to bring different type to'the printing line, a platen carrier 2 mounted to have a back and forth movement to carry a boxlike head 3 which has a platen i on the front side thereof toward the type wheels into and out of printing position and a supply, as a roll 5, of tape carried within the head 3 in the rear of the platen and having its outer end portion trained over feeding wheels carried by the head 3 and transversely across the platen i and feedable off the exit end of the platen with respect to the feeding movement of the tape, and knife mechanism operable to sever the printed end of the tape after it is fed off the platen. The severed tape portions or tags are usually fed onto a tray 1 carried by the head 3. The tape mechanism carried by the head is operated by the fore and aft movement of the carrier 2 and the head 3 and preferably feeds the tape during the latter part of the aft or rearward movement of the head 3. The carrier 2 is usually an upright arm or lever pivoted at 24 to the frame.

This tape feeding mechanism, as here shown, comprises a ratchet or star wheel 8 mounted on the lower side of the bottom of the head 3, a gear wheel 9 rotatable with the star wheel and meshing with a gear wheel it with which rotates a roller i I which coacts with one side of the tape at one end, as the entrance end of the platen, the roller coacting with a compression roller l2 carried by a spring pressed lever it carried by the head. The star wheel 3 coacts with a part, as a pawl M pivoted between its ends to the frame i5, which pawl is normally arranged in position to engage an arm of. the. star wheel during thelatter part of the retrograde movement of the heads andthus index the star wheel one step.

The pawl it is mounted to permit an arm of the star wheel 8 to ratchet during the forward movement of the head and to engage an arm of the star wheel during the rearward movement of the head 3 and turn the ratchet wheel to feed the tape. The pawl I4 is limited in its rearward clockwise pivotal movement by a shoulder l6 coacting with the frame member l5. This mechanism is substantially the same as in said application Ser. No. 27,685, now U. S. Patent No. 2,576,011.

The knife mechanism comprises a knife l1 pivoted between its ends at l8 to the head and having an arm located in the path of a part 19 pivoted at 28 to the frame part 2 i, said arm extending between spaced apart shoulders 22, 23, on the part it. The operation of the knife is the same as in said application referred to. That is, during forward movement of the carrier head 3, the knife moves about its pivot counter-clockwise, Figure '1, out of cutting position, and during the rearward movement of the head 3 is actuated to cut off the projected printed end of the tape. The mechanism thus far described per se forms no part of this invention.

This invention comprises a supplemental or second platen 25, here shown as pivoted at to one side, as the left hand side, of the head 3 at the level of the platen 4 and movable into position to mask the platen 4, this platen having a projecting platen surface 21 projecting forward- 1y toward the printing line. Hence, the distance that the carrier 2 and its head 3 travels when the second platen is in position is less than the distance that it travels when the platen 4 is unmasked. This shortening of the distance between the second platen and the printing line thus shortens the throw of the carrier head 3 forwardly toward the printing line a sufiicient amount to limit the distance the ratchet or star wheel 8, or the arm thereof, travels, so that the star wheel 8 does not ratchet past the front end 'of the pawl [4. Hence, the pawl l4 does not ratchet behind the arm of the star wheel to feed the tape during the retrograde movement of the head 3. Thus the tape is not fed when the second platen 25 is in working position.

The second platen '25 is provided with means for shifting the knife I! out of position to be operated during the movement of the head 3 and carrier 2. That is, out of operative relation to its actuating lever I9 carried by the frame member 2|. As here shown, the body of the second platen 25 is formed with a hook 28 contiguous to the knife end, which hook serves as a cam to coact with a pin or follower 29 on the knife I! and shift it about its pivot and thus shift the lower end of the knife out of position to coact with the shoulders 22, 23, particularly the shoulder 23 of the actuating lever I9. Thus, the knife is disabled when the second platen 25 is being used. The second platen '25 is here shown as a body stamped in channel form with a channel 31 secured to the body and holding a platen strip 32.

The tape feeding mechanism is disabled when the second platen is not in use but the machine used for printing the identifying number on an invoice or list of articles of a customer by manually operated means. As here shown, the means for disabling the tape feeding mechanism when the second platen is not being used but the identifying number is printed on a list or invoice consists of a lever 33 pivoted at 34 to the under side of the head 3 and having an upwardly extending arm or finger piece 35 at the rear end of the head 3. The lever 33 constitutes a track or shoe which, when the lever is operated by pulling up on the finger piece 35, engages the front end of the pawl 14 during the forward movement of the head 3 and depresses the front end of the pawl l4 and holds it out of the path of an arm of the star wheel during the rearward movement of the head so that the star wheel is not actuated and hence, the tape is not fed. The head 3 is provided with a handle or knob 36 by which the head or platen carrier 2 is operated. A guide 31 for an ink ribbon 38 guides the ink ribbon from a spool across the printing line. The ribbon mechanism is actuated by the back and forth movement of the platen carrier in any suitable manner not forming part of this invention. The second platen is provided with finger pieces 39 rigid therewith to manipulate it into and out of operative position.

In operation, when the tape or tags are not being printed but the second platen 25 is in use, a garment or article on which the identifying number is to be printed directly is located with a portion thereof held taut over the second platen 25 and the carrier 2 moved forwardly, so that the article is pressed directly against the type wheels or the interposed ink ribbon. The movement of the second platen 25 into position to mask the first or regular platen, shifts the knife into disabling position, as shown in Figure 5. Thus, this machine can be used alternately as a tag printing machine in which a tape feeds automatically across one platen surface and printed and then off the platen surface and the printed tag severed and as a machine to print an identifying number on the article itself, or on an invoice, the second platen, upon swinging into position, masking the first platen and thus also shifting the knife into disabling position, the head moved forwardly with the article thereon. The lever 32 is operated only to disable the tape feeding mechanism when printing on an invoice or list.

What I claim is:

1. A tag and article printing machine of the class described, comprising a set of type wheels operable individually to set a row of type in the printing line, a stationary frame, a platen carrier supported by the frame to have a back and forth movement and having a head provided with a platen confronting the type at the printing line, a tape supply carried by the head and trained to move across the platen, mechanism to feed the tape actuated by the carrier during the movement of the head in one direction while the platen is spaced from the type, a knife carried by the head at the exit end of the platen with respect to the tape feeding movement and operated by the head to sever the tape after each feeding movement and printing operation, and actuating mechanisms including coacting parts carried by the carrier and the frame to operate the tape feeding and the knife mechanisms during the back and forth movement of the carrier; said printing machine being characterized by a second platen movably secured to the head to shift relative thereto and shiftable into position to cover the first platen and length of tape on the first platen, and a member on the second platen engageable with the knife to shift the knife out of operative relation to the part of its actuating mechanisms on the frame and operated by the movement of the second platen into operative position.

2. A tag and article of a printing machine of the class described, comprising a set of type wheels operable individually to set a row of type in the printing line, a stationary frame, a platen carrier supported by the frame to have a back and forth movement and having a head provided with a platen confronting the type at the printing line, a tape supply carried by the head and trained to move across the platen, mechanism to feed the tape actuated by the carrier during the movement of the head in one direction while the platen is spaced from the type, a knife carried by the head at the exit end of the platen with respect to the tap feeding movement to sever 'the tape after each feeding movement and printing operation, and actuating mechanisms including coacting parts carried by the carrier and the frame to operate the tape feeding and the knife mechanisms during the back and forth movement of the carrier; said printing machine being characterized by a second platen mountable on the head to cover the first platen and length of tape on the first platen, and a member on the carrier to shift the tape feeding part on the frame out of operative position to the part of the tape feeding mechanism on the carrier during the movement of the carrier, and means on the sec ond platen to shift the knife out of cutting relation to the part of its actuating mechanisms on the frame and operated by the movement of the second platen into operative position.

3. A tag and article of a printing machine of the class described, comprising a set of type wheels operable individually to set a row of type in the printing line, a stationary frame, a platen carrier supported by the frame to have a back and forth movement and having a head provided with a platen confronting the type at the printing line, a tape supp-1y carried by the head and trained to move across the platen, mechanism to feed the tape actuated by the carrier during the movement of the head in one direction while the platen is spaced from the type, a knife carried by the head at the exit end of the platen with respect to the tape feeding movement to sever the tape after each feeding movement and printing operation, and actuating mechanisms including coacting parts carried by the carrier and the frame to operate the tape feeding and the knife mechanisms during the back and forth movement of the carrier; said printing machine being characterized by a second platen mountable on the head to cover the first platen and length of tape on the first platen, and a member on the carrier to shift the tape feeding part on the frame out of operative position to the part of the tape feeding mechanism on the carrier during the movement of the carrier, the second platen being formed with a cam device coacting with a fo1- lower on the knife to shift the knife out of cutting relation to the knife actuating part on the frame when the carrier is moved into operative position.

4. A tag and article printing machine of the class described, comprising a set of type wheels operabl individually to set a row type in the printing line, a stationary frame, a platen carrier supported by the frame to have a back and forth movement and having a head provided with a platen confronting the type at the printing line, a tape supply carried by the head and trained to move across the platen, mechanism to feed the tape actuated by the carrier during the movement of the head in one direction while the platen is spaced from the type, a knife carried by the head at the exit end of the platen with respect to the tape feeding movement and operated by the head to sever the tape after each feeding movement and printing operation, and actuating mechanism including coacting parts carried by the carrier and the frame to operate the tape feeding and the knife mechanisms during the back and forth movement of the carrier; said printing mechanism being characterized by a second platen movably secured to the head to shift relative thereto and shiftable into position to cover the first platen and length of tape on the first platen, the second platen projecting toward the printing line a distance to stop the travel of the head toward the printing line before part of the tape feeding mechanism on the carrier has traveled in position to coact with the part on the frame.

PHILIP N. BRAUN.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,565,419 Cooke Dec. 15, 1924 1,765,859 Bartel June 24, 1930 1,773,673 Halvorsen Aug. 19, 1930 2,080,056 Miller May 11, 1937 2,278,618 Knight Apr. 7, 1942 2,442,094 Petty May 25,1948 

